


A Second Chance

by Coh



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-28 05:14:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13897014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coh/pseuds/Coh
Summary: Max copes with her loss, the story takes place directly after Sacrifice Chloe. How will she cope with her loss? What happens next? Is this it?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I'm currently (but slowly, kinda lazily) working on Chapter 2. I wrote this a while ago, and this is my first ever fan fic. I'm working on improving the characterization so they don't feel so flat. The original story is on FF.  
> https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12844305/1/Second-Chance

**Max Caulfield**

**Prescott Dormitory – Room 219**

**October 12th, 03:23 am**

"And Max Caulfield? Don't you forget about me…"

"Never."

Max wakes up in her bed with puffy eyes, adjusting to the darkness immersed her room. She can only see the silhouette of her furniture. It has only been a day since Chloe's funeral. Those memories Chloe and she had for that week were real, and she is the only one who has them now. All those moments she had weren't real. She can't share it with anyone, they would just dismiss her as crazy.

' _Oh… my Chloe… if only there was another solution to get out of this mess … I'd do anything just to wake up next to you... but then… people will die because of the storm…'_  She clumsily slopes upwards and rolls off her bed to retrieve her phone from her desk, her eyes blinded by the bright light as it slowly adapts to the light.

**03:23 am**

Unsurprisingly, she received a lot of messages from her parents, friends, and acquaintances.  _'Most of them didn't bother to talk to me before she died…'_

* * *

**[10/08 2:34 pm] Victoria:**

Hey Max, I'm sorry for your loss. I hope you're doing OK.

* * *

**[10/09 20:15 pm]**   **Kate:**

Hey Max if u need someone to talk to I'm here for you :)

**[10/09 23:53 pm] Max:**

Hi Kate, I'm doing fine. All of this was a huge shock.  
I need some time to think.

Thanks for today.

* * *

**[10/11 21:48 pm]**   **Warren:**

Hi Max, just to let you know.

We're here for you.

**[10/11 22:03 pm] Max:**

Thanks, Warren.

I'm busy rn, TTYL.

* * *

**[10/08 01:10 am]**   **Mom:**

Hi honey We received a txt from Joyce about Chloe Srry we cant be there for u this Friday I know it must be hard for you right now We arranged a trip to visit you this Sunday afternoon! Stay strong Maxine! Xxoo Mommy

* * *

Tears well up in her eyes as she drags herself back to bed. The room is dead silent. Not a single soul can be heard.  _'Then again, no normal person is awake at this time._ ' Max forces her eyes shut as she lay there attempting to resume her slumber, but she can't. The only thing she can think of is the blue-haired punk that was her entire world. Chloe was all that mattered to her. _"_ Max, you finally came back to me this week, and… you did nothing but show me your love and friendship." The tears trapped in her blue eyes burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down her face as she curls up like a fetus. There is static in her head once more, the side effect of this misery that the brunette is in. Her lips tremble as she calls out the bluenette's name once more, hoping for her to just show up out of nowhere.

* * *

**Max Caulfield**

**Prescott Dormitory – Room 219**

**October 12th, 07:23 am**

The sudden hollow echo of knuckles rapping on the door accompanied by a familiar, sweet and gentle voice can be heard. "Hey Max, may I come in?"

"Hey Kate, give me a second." Gripping the doorknob, Max tries to put on her best face before letting her close friend in. Max sits on her bed as she gestures Kate to sit beside her.

"Good morning Max, how have you been?" The girl with the bun hair smiles, trying to comfort the brunette.

No response.

Max is staring at the wall that is opposite of her a long moment, and Kate almost repeats her question. Finally, she looks up with a tiny smile, "I'm sorry," she says, "I was thinking." Her voice is soft, and a bit strained like someone had hit her in the gut and she is still recovering. "I get lost a lot these days," she adds, "I'm sorry. And I'm… fine… to say the least. Everything just… happened so fast. I didn't even get a chance to talk to her, Kate. She died thinking that… that everyone abandoned her." A tear tickles her cheek as a great sob escapes her, covering her face with shaking hands. The brunette mumbles incoherent things through her hands and chokes on her sobs, "I'm sorry, you shouldn't see me like this…" The brunette speaking with a shaky voice.

"I know you're having a hard time with this, I'm sorry you're hurting so much. Max, your friends are here for you. We can help you get through this, together." Kate replies as she wraps her arms around the brunette.

"Thank you, Kate. I feel much better already." Max looks at Kate with a tiny smile on her face. She didn't want her friend to worry too much as Kate has her own problems to deal with. "Kate… I don't want to bother you if you're busy but are you free today? I am thinking of going over to Ch… Joyce's house to talk to her. We haven't talked much since… since…"

Kate speaks after noticing Max's trembling voice, "Anything for you, Max."

Max breathes in and out, trying to get a hold of herself. ' _Okay, Max, calm down. You can do this.'_ She then proceeds to call the bluenette's mother. "Hi Joyce, are you at home today? I was wondering if I can go to your house at around 9 am. Alright, thank you, Joyce." The brunette slouches after hanging up, not having much energy left in her. She feels physically drained, like a huge weight that is chained to her. "Hey Kate, I'm going to and take a shower first. Do you mind waiting for me?" The brown-haired girl speaks with just a hint of melancholy in her voice.

"Sure Max, I don't mind waiting."

**Kate's POV**

When Max left the room, Kate wanted to find out if Max is okay. It is obvious that Max is sad, but she wants to be sure that it isn't worse than that.  _'Max wasn't this sad a few days ago… but during and after the funeral she changed…'_ Kate thinks to herself. She walks over to Max's laptop to check what Max was browsing.  _'Oh… this bad?'_ As her eyes are fixated on the display screen.  _'I shall not be nosier than I already am… Max is not going to like it if I bring up her issue. I don't think anyone will if their friend snooped around and found out about things like these… She hasn't told me about it yet, guess I should wait for her to tell me and not the other way around.'_

* * *

**Max Caulfield**

**The Price Residence**

**October 12th, 09:03 am**

After a long bus ride and a few minutes of walking, Max and Kate arrived at the Price's house. Max's fist was barely clenched as a soft and discreet knocking soon followed afterward. A distant and faint sound of footsteps can be heard, ever so slightly becoming louder but it stops there. The creaking of the door can be heard as David opens the door. "Hello Max, I didn't know you were comin'. Come on in." David steps aside to let the two girls in.

"Hey David, this is my friend Kate. We called Joyce earlier in the morning to tell her that we were coming."

_'David's eyes look… sad.'_

"Joyce hasn't been feeling the best ever since the incident. That rich fucker and that sick fucker should've died instead of being jailed. Sorry, Joyce is upstairs."

Max and Kate go up the stairs and knocks on the door. There isn't a response, so they try knocking again. "Hey Max, how have you been?" The blonde woman asks.

"I'm coping, what about you?" Max, of course, is telling a white lie so that Joyce won't be worried about her.  _'She has too much going on right now... I can't let her be worried about me.'_

"I'm… devastated. First William… and now her too, the world is so damn cruel to the good people in the world. She was my whole world ever since William left." Joyce replies with tears in her eyes that is reflecting against the sunlight, making them look shiny, almost looking like orbs.

"Joyce, I am so sorry about William and Chloe, I have great memories of them. I know things were hard for you and Chloe, I feel bad I didn't call." Max replies.

Joyce senses that Max has an immense amount of guilt judging by her reply. "You did the right thing, you moved forward with your life. I did when William passed on. Chloe… Chloe chose to stay angry. I'm sorry you had to witness that, honey, it must have been traumatizing. If only I could go back in time to save her."

"Me too, Joyce."

"Max, have you and your friend eaten yet? I'll make breakfast for the both of you." Joyce replies after a few seconds of silence between them. Kate didn't know what to say at this point as it might have been awkward to say something. So, she follows Max to Chloe's room while Joyce prepares to go down to make breakfast for them.

They both step into Chloe's room. The overwhelming guilt engulfs Max as her legs can barely carry her weight. Max sobs as she sat down on the floor with her chest on her knees. ' _Everything is still here; the magazines, papers and Chloe's clothes scattered across her floor along with pizza boxes and empty beer bottles and soda cans.'_  "This is  _my_ fault… I should've done something to p-prevent her from dying."

Kate wraps her arms around Max as she tries to console her brunette friend, "Max, this isn't your fault. There wasn't much that you could've done. He had a gun, you were scared. Nathan was at fault here, not you."

"Thank you, Kate. Do you mind if I spend a few minutes alone in her room? I just need… some alone time." With that, Kate leaves after comforting her once more.

Max sits and sobs for a few minutes in silence, recalling what happened during that week.

_"No way! When did you take this? YOU took this photo, you brat! In the bathroom today... You set off the alarm! That's why Nathan raged after you... It totally makes sense. You hella saved my life... Now tell me the truth, Max."_

_"I, er, know it was your birthday last month... This was my real father's camera... I want you to have it."_

_"Yep yep, I'm fucking insane on the brain! Let's dance! Shake that boney white ass! Or take my picture with your new camera!"_

_"This song fucking rules! Can't dance, hippie? Come on! Rawk out, girl! Yes! Break it down, Max!"_

"I… I miss you so, so much, Chloe..."

"I miss you too, Max."

"…Chloe?"


	2. Journal Entries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was working on different Chapter 2 and I had a few drafts that were pretty different from one another, but I didn't like the way they were. I kinda wrote this up in a rush in 2 hours. I edited a lot of mistakes and rephrased/rewritten a lot of parts. But that's about it. This, ironically, is longer than my other drafts. But I needed something like this to set up for the return of characters because I'm not the best at writing. I hope to improve though.

**_October 12, 2013_ **

_  
Right. So… I still haven’t gotten over the death of the person that I loved most in the world, my best friend, my partner in crime, my first mate, and my first crush. I always think of her funeral with one question in mind. Was that really Chloe? The blue butterfly? Or was it something else just playing a cruel prank on me…? What was the purpose of having my powers in the first place if my Chloe was supposed to die? Why her? SIGH. Maybe I can figure it out one day. Wowser, I miss her so much. I want to go back in time to see her again, but… I can’t. The storm will happen, and innocent people will die. Or at least that’s what I think will happen._

_I went to Joyce’s house today, it was strange being in there without Chloe. Kate was kind enough to accompany me to Joyce’s house after my morning session of tears._ _I hope we become best friends one day, she’s… one of the few people that I genuinely like. _I still can’t believe that she’s alive. I remember when she died in an alternate reality, I could've saved her... I will always be by her side no matter what, I cannot let that happen again.__

_  
Speaking of Joyce’s house and Chloe, I had a strange incident when I went there. I heard Chloe’s voice. I wonder how. I wonder why. But it was just that moment, and there was nothing but silence. I didn’t get a response from her. Maybe it’s just my mind playing a trick on me? I hope to get an answer one day._

 

 _Also, m_ y _parents are visiting me tomorrow! I miss them so much._

* * *

 

**_November 13, 2013_ **

_Another day, another dawn. It’s been awhile since I’ve written in my diary again. Frankly speaking, I miss doing this so much. It’s one of the only places where I can be… ‘myselfie’… Ugh, nightmare Jefferson’s word still creeps me out. Insert creeped out emoji._

_Where do I begin?_

_It’s been a month since I went to Blackwell. I’ve been living in Joyce’s house ever since I was suspended from school. They’re really nice and they treat me like their own daughter. It still feels weird sleeping in Chloe’s room. A lot of things has happened since then, I got a red dye streak in my hair, I also got myself a blue butterfly tattoo on my left forearm to remember Chloe, and I also became a hipster punk. I mean, I dress more like a punk but I still listen to folk and indie music. Sometimes a little punk and rock. I’m lucky to have a suspension for a month and that I’m not expelled for missing classes… or in Principal Wells’ words, “I understand that in light of recent… unfortunate circumstances, that you may need some time off. However, this does not exempt your recent poor behavior. Missing classes being your first infraction in no way reduces its severity.” Oh, blow me, you corrupt fuck._

_I bet Nathan did these kinds of things all the time when he was still here and he still had a spotless record. At least he’s in jail now, he deserved so much better though. If only someone helped him… But he killed my Chloe. I can never forgive him for that. Speaking of Nathan, I can’t believe that the cops in Arcadia Bay are so corrupt. There isn’t any evidence that pointed towards Jefferson being guilty. All the evidence in the Dark Room ‘mysteriously’ vanished without a trace._

_Furthermore, my life is hell. Everything was slowly getting better the day after Chloe’s funeral, but life finds its way to make things miserable for everyone. I forgot about all about Kate’s own problems. The main problem was the video that Victoria took of her. Victoria took it down shortly after Chloe’s death, but it was too late. People have been re-uploading it online. It’s like what Kate said, nothing ever gets out of the web. Her mother disowned her because of that video. But this time… I wasn’t there on the roof for her. Oh, Kate… I’m so sorry._

 

_It turns out that Mom and Dad couldn’t make the trip to Arcadia Bay on Sunday because of urgent work-related matters, so they had to delay their trip. I really miss them. They’re coming to visit me in a few days from now._

* * *

**November 16, 2013.**

_Dear Diary, yadda yadda. I’ll just go straight to the point. I’m sick of this shit. I was so excited for Mom and Dad to come and visit me after the somewhat disappointing postpone. But they never came… Joyce, David and I were having dinner yesterday with the TV on, we were talking about how Mom and Dad were uncontactable for some weird reason… But we didn’t expect it. The news was talking about an accident on the freeway near Arcadia Bay, I didn’t really bother about it until it mentioned the details of the car and the people in it. This is all so fucked up. Fuck you, fate. I’m sick of you making my life a hell._

_There are a lot of things to say my powers. I feel so unconstrained now. Rewinding gives me a mild tingling sensation and pushing my limits went from passing out or having nosebleeds to tiny droplets of blood coming out of my nose. I also don’t get a massive headache when I rewind time by a few minutes. I guess that’s a good thing? Freezing time is easy now. What once felt like I was walking in water combined with a massive headache is now replaced by just a tingling sensation, and walking while everything is frozen just feel like I’m normally walking? Gah, I don’t really know how to put it in a way that doesn’t confuse myself. But it was hella amazeballs to have so much power now. The only issue that I have are photo jumps, I’m still having difficulties with it. I’m still confined to an area and I can’t walk out of it. However, I can choose when to end the photo jump now. That’s also a good thing._

_A month ago, making the decision to go back in time would be insane, I know how well that turned out when I changed William’s fate. But then again… 5 years is a long stretch. What if I went back in time that wasn’t that long? I know that I can try it soon since my powers grew a lot because of my training. And I will try it again. For Mom, for Dad, for Chloe, for Kate, for Joyce, for David, and for Rachel. Rachel had been guiding me during the week I had with Chloe. I owe her so much._


End file.
